Author:Apache FriendsTitle: xampp 1.6.6a - setteing up Apache, MySQL, PHP/Perl the easy wayPrice: Free Open SourceFree Demo: YesProduct Rating: 5/5Packaging Rating: n/a (Download)Description:Many people know from their own experience that it's not easy to install an Apache web server and it gets harder if you want to add MySQL, PHP and Perl. XAMPP is an easy to install Apache distribution containing MySQL, PHP and Perl. XAMPP is really very easy to install and to use - just download, extract and start.

At the moment there are four XAMPP versions:

a version for Linux systems (tested for Ubuntu, SuSE, RedHat, Mandrake and Debian),

a version for Windows 98, NT, 2000, 2003, XP and Vista,

a beta version for Solaris SPARC (developed and tested under Solaris 8),

and a beta version for Mac OS X.

These Mac OS X and Solaris versions of XAMPP are still in the first steps of development. Use at you own risk!

Minimum Requirements:

Windows 32 enviroments

Win98Se: only apache/mysql support

Windows 2000 (w2k): all servers okay

Windows Server 2003 R2: all servers okay

Windows XP Service Pack 2: all servers okay

VISTA Ultimate: all servers okay

Linux

Not listed on their site. Keep in mind it is a collection of several servers.

OS X

Mac OS X 10.4 (Intel&PPC) and higher.

Solaris

Tested with Solaris 8 and tested with Solaris 9

On their Forum I read about good results with the free and open source Solaris 10

Lead In:You kids have it easy today. When I started developing, You had to get a hoster. It was Linux only and no manual for anything if you hadn't learned the man command. You guys have great freely available packages now.

XAMPP is a great way to set up a test bed on your local box. You have Apaches, MySQL 5.X.X(root password is not set you are warned) PHP 4.x.x and PHP 5.2.X, Perl and more. One easy install. I would have killed for this. The fact they now are making an OSX and Solaris version, I think this will be around for a while. If you want to learn a scripting you now have a free easy path cleared for you. XAMPP comes fully loaded with phpMyAdmin, a control panel, a way to switch which version of PHP you want to use. A great world wide community. If using XP with service pack 2 just be sure to disable IIS in your service.

Review:Having personally compiled configured and set up a lamp stack a few times, just to be able to START my work, this is a welcomed solution to staying up to date. The packages are usualy very much up to date. I used a solution a few years back called trillian. it was ok. But XAMPP has just about anything I want. I recommend [url=http://www.webyog.com/en/screenshots_sqlyog.php]SQLYog over phpMyAdmin but that is a personal preference.

The Good:

What was once hard is now easy

Great community (support forum)

Up to date package distributions

Easy to use web based admin panel

Once you learn where everything is easy to maintain

Much much more

The Bad:

Unsecured with initial install

Final Thoughts:Even if you have a remote host. Maybe like me you have a dedicated development server. It is a good practice to have a local test bed/place to store backups of the online data/scripts. XAMPP allows me to have this with very little system admin headaches. It allows me to focus on what I do, Web Development.